Hello! Haven't written in a very long time, but I finally got around to watching the Harry Potter series and I read so much fanfiction about it that I decided to try my hand too! Please let me know what you think in the comments!

Thank you for visiting my story! I'll try to update every Sunday.

Santé!

PhoenixSpoons

Screaming. It's the only sound that could escape her lips.

They failed. Failed to fulfill the prophecy.

Harry was dead, Neville shortly after. Victory was so close, but fate decided to play a cruel joke. She couldn't understand. The one to defeat the Dark Lord was supposed to be him. Harry. The boy who lived. If neither could survive. Why did He survive? The sound of rubble falling from Hogwarts was now white noise to her. Her burning lungs ached for water, but she knew it would never come. They kept her alive; the last one of the Golden Trio. The last one of the Order. The last survivor.

"Your efforts have all been in vain," a voice not unfamiliar began, "'The brightest witch her age', they called you. Now tell me, how does it feel to be the last Mudblood her age?" He taunted. Her tear ducts began to water, but the sobs came dry. She did not know where he was, really. The Dark Lord had thought it amusing to remove her sight permanently, using ancient, barbaric, muggle torture methods on her to prove a point to his followers.

"There will be retribution, in this life or the next!" She choked out, liquid splattering. Her tongue was already removed due to her defiant nature earlier. Her friends, her lover, all perished except for her kneazle and parents. For now, she thought bitterly, but her pride at securing them from the Dark Lord was the only thing she had left to keep her sane. Sharp pain coursed through her body, evoking another blood curdling scream. She could taste the metallic liquid dripping out of her cracked, blue lips. Crimson dripped down her chin as his followers took turns at throwing rubble and debris at her for her disrespect to the Dark Lord. The lord is wrathful, she bemused as another snap of bone ripped through the air. Never had she wanted to give up this badly before, but her stubbornness always found a way to come back around. It truly would be the death of her. She heard Him speak again, but her brain wouldn't process his words. The pain was unbearable.

These sessions happened every day since the Order failed. She felt herself get dragged roughly forward, skinning her exposed knees against the rough stone. She felt the harsh downpour of rain beat against the wounded flesh on her body, stinging her as though God decided to rub in her failure. She made many mistakes in life, she supposed. It was only a matter of time before God turned his back on her, as well. But what if it wasn't that? She wondered, feeling the harsh, cold presence on metal enclose around her jellied wrists, stretching the broken bones as gravity pulled at her desperately toward the earth.

Could it be that the angels above were weeping for her? She screamed in agony as they pulled. Weeping for the loss of the Order, the lives of innocents? She felt another curse surge through her veins, burning her from the inside as her organs cooked. The feeling of sorrow for the future of the world due to their failure?

"I believe your time is up, little Mudblood. The wizarding world is no place for children playing dress up." He taunted, sounding closer to her than before. She could feel his hot, soured breath beating on her face, smelling of stomach acid and copper. Grimacing, she grunted as he eviscerated her clothing to nothing. It was a show, she knew, but she couldn't help the shame that rose to her face. She knew if her lacrimal sacs weren't severed; she would be crying. She was on display as an animal for slaughter. His speech began of blood purity and the thieving of magic, but it fell short on her ears. The rain continued to pound on the exposed flesh, scorching her opened wounds. Perhaps the angels cried their salty tears on the behalf of her who could no longer cry herself?

"Today my faithful followers, we will celebrate in glory of defeating those who opposed us. To commemorate this day, we shall pay heed to our history of our treatment by muggles who killed our very own pure blood." The shackles tightened around her, evoking a strangled cry from her lips.

"It is now time to burn the witch!" Cheers rang from the crowd, buzzing in her ears like tinnitus. A faint sound of fiendfire made its way to her. Searing heat lit through her body, the crackling of the spell nearly drowning out her screams of agony as her body began to char.

No, she thought, angels wouldn't cry for her. She was too rational for that.

Because angels didn't bloody exist.

Silence. No noise, no pain. Pure nothingness raked through Hermione's body as she slowly stood up. The scent was familiar, calming yet filled her with nerves of her last thoughts on earth. She was never the faithful girl growing up, too focused on proving every little thing with facts and provable evidence to support her claims. Everyone knew she believed Divination was a farce, yet she believed in Harry's prophecy due to fear of losing the war. She berated herself for straddling the line of belief. She perhaps led the loss due to not believing in the prophecy enough. Like the children's story Peter Pan, "Every time a child says, "I don't believe in fairies", there is a fairy somewhere that falls down dead." Perhaps the prophecy was her fairy.

The prophecy was her fairy and she murdered it. Now, she was either in limbo or hell, or wherever the true God of the realm was. Goddess was also a possibility, she decided, her inner feminist screamed at her. She still couldn't see, or stand, for that matter, so she possibly landed herself in purgatory. Just as she always wanted. The Order members were all probably in paradise, waiting for her to show. Or hoping she would somehow turn it around and save everyone. Harry and Ron were probably telling them all how she'd save them everyone with her big brain of hers. Ron. Her heart ached as she thought of his last moments, staring deep into her soul as he was killed point blank with the fatal green lightning. It was the last image she saw, after all. She shuddered, feeling the flood of emotions pour out of her at once, forcing her to collapse into a heap on the ground she awoke at. She'd failed them all and was now going to be in purgatory forever.

"I'm sorry to disappoint, Hermione Jean Granger, however your soul is not ready for harvest." She tensed; her body became rigid as her anxiety grew. Who was this, she wondered, why was she not going anywhere?

"You ask many questions, child, yet I can only give you the answers you need." The deep, silky voice hummed to her, both intimidating her and giving her a sense of security. Like it was somehow familiar. Knowing that she couldn't see, she tried to face the direction the voice came from. She slowly began to realize that the voice was not coming from around her, it seemed to be coming from inside of her.

"Your light dimmed, and you are now surrounded in darkness. The prophecy unfolded in ways it should never have. The timeline had crumbled to ash, along with those you knew before," He paused, or she, Hermione decided, as she couldn't see the person and they didn't give her any pronouns to use, "Yet your spirit was saved for reasons known only to the Valkyries." Her breath hitched in her throat. Valkyries, she pondered, as she shook her head. She knew of the tales she read as a child, the woman of myths that chose who lived and died in battle. If she were to live, why let her die? Their words from before only started to sink in, and she soon felt sick as she realized. Does that mean their souls are gone, as well? She felt a sob choke itself in her throat. Her pulse pounded in her ears, making her afraid she'd miss any of the dialogue her new ally in death was bestowing her.

"Child, your journey hadn't started properly, ending in the souls of the fallen to be returned to me to begin anew."

"God?" She gurgled, feeling the absence of the appendage more noticeably with the syllables required. "No. I am simply the harvester for those who cross the veil of life and death." The answer was wistful, reminding her of her late friend Luna Lovegood. Luna, she mourned, never deserved what happened to her at the end. She wished for a time where they never argued semantics. Of course, it was always Hermione arguing facts about creatures she'd never heard of or could find in the vast Hogwarts library. She never gave Luna credit when it was due; the girl was a Ravenclaw for a reason. Guilt washed through her body, making her feel heavier by the second.

"A deal has been made between the Valkyrie and I, as the timeline has to repeat until the prophecy is complete." She frowned slightly, doubt filling her mind.

"Why me?" The silence was deafening to her. After weeks of torment and piercing screams, the silence was the worst of all. Sweat dripped from her brow into her exposed socket, bringing her attention back to reality, or at least what could be made of it.

"Why you, indeed. You will discover for yourself, as you are an intelligent young woman. What the Valkyries intend for you is to rewrite the story as it unfolds," she felt faint, "and begin life anew." Her body trembled, cold from either shock or the lack of blood flow that was occurring in her body.

"You will remember your purpose, what you learned in this life. However, you will not be given hints of what to do or what to change. You will remember your failure, your successes, and who helped or harmed your story," They lowered their voice as they went on, sending shivers down her spine, "and you will remember how you died. A reminder will forever be marked on you to ensure you never forget the fallen timeline." Shock coursed throughout her body, pain briefly flashing through her as a scream ripped through her lings.

"Now remember, watch for heliopaths." Bright light blinded her as her body surged warmth, then immediate cold as hands were touching her. She blinked and felt tears rush down her cheeks as the bright white lights flooded her senses.

"Congratulations, it's a girl!"